79 percent of the city's trail system now accessible again to public

Justin Langston, of Denver, climbs around on a part of Crown Rock off of Flagstaff Road while hiking with a friend on Saturday.
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JEREMY PAPASSO
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For updates on the status of trails and open space areas that are still closed and to view an up-to-date map of open areas visit osmp.org.

Chautauqua Park was abuzz with activity Saturday afternoon as hundreds of people seized the opportunity presented by another sunny, temperate November day and headed outside to enjoy some of Boulder's open space and trails.

Evidence of the damage done by September's historic flooding and rains is still apparent in places. A ditch, a few feet across in spots, remains marked with traffic cones along the west side of Bluebell Road as it meanders southward from Chautauqua Park. Woody debris is piled up in several areas, including near the crossroads of the Enchanted Mesa and McClintock Trails.

But because just two months ago the entire open space and mountain parks system was closed by emergency order, many people on the trails Saturday spoke highly of the work by city crews and volunteers to get the recreational areas ready for users again.

"I think they've put in fantastic efforts," Boulder resident Liz Patterson said as she and her Tibetan Terrier, Lhotse, set out on a hike on the Enchanted Mesa Trail, which reopened Sept. 27.

Patterson said she typically likes to hike Boulder's trails five times a week, and notes that while some places still look a bit "cruddy," she knows the flood has altered landscapes and appreciates the work put in to reopen trails to the public as quickly as possible.

"I know they work really hard. I see their trucks and crews up here all the time," Patterson said of Open Space and Mountain Parks .

An area that reopened for the first time since the flood on Saturday was Crown Rock, the parking lot for which is located just off Flagstaff Road.

Boulder graphic designers Brizida Ahrnsbrak and Richard Roche were among the many people who visited the area to climb on the rock formations and take in the view of the city below.

Ahrnsbrak said she was making her first visit to a city open space area since the flood, and while Roche has hiked city trails recently, he said he does so about half as often as he did prior to the flood. Even so, both said they appreciated the work that has been done to reopen the city's recreational amenities.

"I was impressed," Roche said. "I was following Boulder Open Space on Twitter and it seemed like they were opening 20 trails at a time."

Erie residents J.T. Bobbit and Dana Lacy, who also visited Crown Rock, said open space and trails were the reason the young couple recently moved to Colorado from Chicago. Both said they were impressed with the post-flood recovery and rebuilding efforts in the area, not only on trails, but on roads and highways.

"Awesome," was how Lacy described the efforts to reopen Boulder's trail system.

In October, Open Space and Mountain Parks Director Mike Patton said he expected as much as 80 percent of the city's trails to be open by the end of the year. By Saturday, 79 percent of the Boulder trail system was open to users again, Patton said, and outside of a few severely damaged areas where heavy machinery will likely be required, including Chapman Drive, Gregory Canyon and the Sanitas Valley Trail, the entire system could be open by year's end.

Patton credited his entire Open Space and Mountain Parks staff and an estimated 700 volunteers who have pitched in on the efforts to rebuild and clean up trails for the progress made so far.

"I marvel at how much energy and work they've put in," he said of his employees. "Literally everyone who has been working since the storm has been working on this issue. The community has been a huge contributor."

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